research proposal sample cover page

McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, January 03). How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-proposal/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to write a problem statement | guide & examples, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, how to write a literature review | guide, examples, & templates, what is your plagiarism score.

How to Write a Research Proposal

Once you’re in college and really getting into academic writing , you may not recognize all the kinds of assignments you’re asked to complete. You know what an essay is, and you know how to respond to readings—but when you hear your professor mention a research proposal or a literature review, your mind might do a double take.

Don’t worry; we’ve got you. Boiled down to its core, a research proposal is simply a short piece of writing that details exactly what you’ll be covering in a larger research project. You’ll likely be required to write one for your thesis , and if you choose to continue in academia after earning your bachelor’s degree, you’ll be writing research proposals for your master’s thesis, your dissertation, and all other research you conduct. By then, you’ll be a research proposal pro. But for now, we’ll answer all your questions and help you confidently write your first one.

Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write.

Your writing, at its best Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly

What is the goal of a research proposal?

In a research proposal, the goal is to present the author’s plan for the research they intend to conduct. In some cases, part of this goal is to secure funding for said research. In others, it’s to have the research approved by the author’s supervisor or department so they can move forward with it. In some cases, a research proposal is a required part of a graduate school application. In every one of these circumstances, research proposals follow the same structure.

In a research proposal, the author demonstrates how and why their research is relevant to their field. They demonstrate that the work is necessary to the following:

A research proposal also demonstrates that the author is capable of conducting this research and contributing to the current state of their field in a meaningful way. To do this, your research proposal needs to discuss your academic background and credentials as well as demonstrate that your proposed ideas have academic merit.

But demonstrating your research’s validity and your personal capability to carry it out isn’t enough to get your research proposal approved. Your research proposal also has to cover these things:

If you’ve already read our post on literature reviews , you may be thinking that a research proposal sounds pretty similar. They’re more than just similar, though—a literature review is part of a research proposal. It’s the section that covers which sources you’re using, how you’re using them, and why they’re relevant. Think of a literature review as a mini-research proposal that fits into your larger, main proposal.

How long should a research proposal be?

Generally, research proposals for bachelor’s and master’s theses are a few pages long. Research proposals for meatier projects, like Ph.D. dissertations and funding requests, are often longer and far more detailed. A research proposal’s goal is to clearly outline exactly what your research will entail and accomplish, so including the proposal’s word count or page count isn’t nearly as important as it is to ensure that all the necessary elements and content are present.

Research proposal structure

A research proposal follows a fairly straightforward structure. In order to achieve the goals described in the previous section, nearly all research proposals include the following sections:

Introduction

Your introduction achieves a few goals:

In a research proposal, an introduction can be a few paragraphs long. It should be concise, but don’t feel like you need to cram all of your information into one paragraph.

In some cases, you need to include an abstract and/or a table of contents in your research proposal. These are included just before the introduction.

Background significance

This is where you explain why your research is necessary and how it relates to established research in your field. Your work might complement existing research, strengthen it, or even challenge it—no matter how your work will “play with” other researchers’ work, you need to express it in detail in your research proposal.

This is also the section where you clearly define the existing problems your research will address. By doing this, you’re explaining why your work is necessary—in other words, this is where you answer the reader’s “so what?”

In your background significance section, you’ll also outline how you’ll conduct your research. If necessary, note which related questions and issues you won’t be covering in your research.

Literature review

In your literature review , you introduce all the sources you plan to use in your research. This includes landmark studies and their data, books, and scholarly articles. A literature review isn’t merely a list of sources (that’s what your bibliography is for); a literature review delves into the collection of sources you chose and explains how you’re using them in your research.

Research design, methods, and schedule

Following your research review, you’ll discuss your research plans. In this section, make sure you cover these aspects:

Beyond a comprehensive look at your research itself, you’ll also need to include:

Suppositions and implications

Although you can’t know your research’s results until you’ve actually done the work, you should be going into the project with a clear idea of how your work will contribute to your field. This section is perhaps the most critical to your research proposal’s argument because it expresses exactly why your research is necessary.

In this section, make sure you cover the following:

In other words, this section isn’t about stating the specific results you expect. Rather, it’s where you state how your findings will be valuable.

This is where you wrap it all up. Your conclusion section, just like your conclusion paragraph for an essay , briefly summarizes your research proposal and reinforces your research’s stated purpose.

Bibliography

Yes, you need to write a bibliography in addition to your literature review. Unlike your literature review, where you explained the relevance of the sources you chose and in some cases, challenged them, your bibliography simply lists your sources and their authors.

The way you write a citation depends on the style guide you’re using. The three most common style guides for academics are MLA , APA , and Chicago , and each has its own particular rules and requirements. Keep in mind that each formatting style has specific guidelines for citing just about any kind of source, including photos , websites , speeches , and YouTube videos .

Sometimes, a full bibliography is not needed. When this is the case, you can include a references list, which is simply a scaled-down list of all the sources you cited in your work. If you’re not sure which to write, ask your supervisor.

Here’s a tip: Grammarly’s Citation Generator ensures your essays have flawless citations and no plagiarism. Try it for citing journal articles in MLA , APA , and Chicago styles.

How to write a research proposal

Research proposals, like all other kinds of academic writing, are written in a formal, objective tone. Keep in mind that being concise is a key component of academic writing; formal does not mean flowery.

Adhere to the structure outlined above. Your reader knows how a research proposal is supposed to read and expects it to fit this template. It’s crucial that you present your research proposal in a clear, logical way. Every question the reader has while reading your proposal should be answered by the final section.

Editing and proofreading a research proposal

When you’re writing a research proposal, follow the same six-step writing process you follow with every other kind of writing you do.

After you’ve got a first draft written, take some time to let it “cool off” before you start proofreading . By doing this, you’re making it easier for yourself to catch mistakes and gaps in your writing.

Common mistakes to avoid when writing a research proposal

When you’re writing a research proposal, avoid these common pitfalls:

Being too wordy

As we said earlier, formal does not mean flowery. In fact, you should aim to keep your writing as brief and to-the-point as possible. The more economically you can express your purpose and goal, the better.

Failing to cite relevant sources

When you’re conducting research, you’re adding to the existing body of knowledge on the subject you’re covering. Your research proposal should reference one or more of the landmark research pieces in your field and connect your work to these works in some way. This doesn’t just communicate your work’s relevance—it also demonstrates your familiarity with the field.

Focusing too much on minor issues

There are probably a lot of great reasons why your research is necessary. These reasons don’t all need to be in your research proposal. In fact, including too many questions and issues in your research proposal can detract from your central purpose, weakening the proposal. Save the minor issues for your research paper itself and cover only the major, key issues you aim to tackle in your proposal.

Failing to make a strong argument for your research

This is perhaps the easiest way to undermine your proposal because it’s far more subjective than the others. A research proposal is, in essence, a piece of persuasive writing . That means that although you’re presenting your proposal in an objective, academic way, the goal is to get the reader to say “yes” to your work.

This is true in every case, whether your reader is your supervisor, your department head, a graduate school admissions board, a private or government-backed funding provider, or the editor at a journal in which you’d like to publish your work.

Polish your writing into a stellar proposal

When you’re asking for approval to conduct research—especially when there’s funding involved—you need to be nothing less than 100 percent confident in your proposal. If your research proposal has spelling or grammatical mistakes, an inconsistent or inappropriate tone, or even just awkward phrasing, those will undermine your credibility.

Make sure your research proposal shines by using Grammarly to catch all of those issues. Even if you think you caught all of them while you were editing, it’s critical to double-check your work. Your research deserves the best proposal possible, and Grammarly can help you make that happen.

Research Paper Writing

Dissertation Writing

Other Services

August 29, 2019

A reader can become engaged or irritated after seeing your research paper title page. Th at is why you need to put in the effort to make sure that it is done properly, and it compels the reader to continue reading the content. Creating the title page for research paper is sometimes more difficult for students than writing a research paper.

How To Make A Title Page For Research Paper

The first thing you need to know is that there are primarily three formats for your title page – APA, Chicago style, and MLA. Your instructor will most likely tell you which format is ideal for the paper. The title page has to contain some precise information about the research in a few words. So, what should be contained in a research paper title page?

The front page of your research paper should contain your full name as it is stated on all your educational certificates. That should be on the same page where you put the topic.

Title Of The Research Paper

Make sure you come up with a good title for research paper and put it on the cover page along with your name. Make sure that the title is interesting. Also, it should not be misleading in any way but should provide a glimpse into the entire content. Typically, the title of the research paper title is expected to be written in capital letters and bold fonts.

Supervisor’s Name

Another important detail to add is the full name of the research supervisor. If you go through the research paper title page examples, you’ll see that adding the supervisor’s name is a must.

Course Information

You need to provide some information about the course, including the course code, academic year, and semester.

Now you know what your research paper title page is expected to contain, it’s time to dive into how to make a title page like a professional. Below are some useful tips for creating the perfect paper title page:

Use The Right Format

As stated earlier, there are three main research paper formats. The one you use will depend on what you’ve been instructed to use. However, you need to make sure you stick to one format from the title to the conclusion.

If you’ve been instructed to use the Chicago format, you have to make sure all the content on the cover page is aligned to the center. Your paper title should be halfway into the page. After the page title, write your full name followed by the name of your instructor and then the course title. There is no need to number the cover page when you’re using the Chicago style.

When you’re instructed to use the APA style, you have to number the title page at the top right corner. Use Times New Roman as your page font and keep one-inch margins on every side of the cover page. You may not need to write everything in capital letters.

For the MLA format, you need to start a third way into the paper, but it should not be as low as the Chicago style. You can add a subtitle to your original title. Just after that, add your name, the name of your school, the course title, your instructor’s name.

Writing A Research Paper – Quick Overview

After you’ve determined what you want your title page to look like, you need to find out how to start a research paper. It is important to note that each institution may have specific guidelines on how to write a research paper. So, make sure you read these guidelines thoroughly before you start. However, some general rules are as follows:

Don’t Joke With The Research

The research part of the research paper writing is crucial. Before you start writing anything, research the topic thoroughly, and get updated information about every fact you’re going to list. As soon as you understand the topic, you need to gather resources, formulate the idea, develop your thesis statement. Your research should be backed by empirical data. If possible, conduct first-hand research on the subject. Otherwise, look for reliable research on Google Scholar, government publications, encyclopedias, newspapers, and almanacs.

About Your Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement tells your reader what the main point of your essay is and what your supporting points are. It can be one or two sentences that prepare the minds of the readers for what is to come. Make sure that everything in the body of your paper is in line with the thesis statement, not opposite. Your thesis statement should appear at the end of your introduction and or should match the topic.

Work With An Outline

Your work would flow better if you use an outline from the beginning to the end. Your outline should be made up of all the points you intend to cover in the content. It can also include the research paper format. Make sure that you put down all the subheadings you intend to cover in the content as well as the details of the materials you want to use in each subheading.

Write A Draft First

To increase your chances of creating high-quality work, try writing a draft first. When you’ve completed the draft, you can start writing the content you will submit. Writing a draft first allows you to brainstorm ideas and find the perfect voice for the content.

Progress From Weakest To Strongest Point

For your content to have a logical flow, start with the weakest point, and slowly progress to the strongest. That doesn’t mean you need to start with a point that isn’t backed empirically. It just means the point you start with should not be your strongest. Each point should have a supporting argument as a backup. It makes your content better.

Restate Your Thesis Statement In Your Conclusion

When it’s time to conclude your paper after listing all the relevant points, you can restate your thesis statement as is common in research paper writing examples. That doesn’t mean you should copy and paste your thesis. Just find new words to say it and link all your points to it. Draw the reader’s attention to why all the points you’ve made support your thesis. That applies when you’re research is conclusive. If it is not, make sure you state that in the research is inconclusive.

Review Before Submission

So, you’ve completed your research paper successfully. That’s cool. However, you should not rush into submitting. Revise the work, make edits, and ask someone else to help you read it. Make sure that your work is as flawless as possible. There should be no inaccurate information, grammatical, or typographical errors. The last thing you want to do is submit a compelling research paper with bad grammar or typographical errors.

Let Our Writers Create Best Title Page For You

Writing a research paper, especially its title page, is like writing any other paper. However, it requires more precision and use of facts. Depending on the topic, make sure that everything you state is factual. These tips above will help when you’re creating a title page for your research paper and when you’re creating the paper. Also, should you feel stuck with crafting a research paper – feel free to hire our experts to help you get exciting results!

Take a break from writing.

Top academic experts are here for you.

As Putin continues killing civilians, bombing kindergartens, and threatening WWIII, Ukraine fights for the world's peaceful future.

APA title page (cover page) format, examples, and templates

Note : APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g., those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).

Professional paper APA title page

An example of an APA format reference page

Student paper APA title page

Formatting an apa title page.

Note : All text on the title page should be double-spaced and typed in either 12-point, Times New Roman font. In the 7th edition, APA increaded the flexibility regarding font options: which now include Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, Times New Roman 12, or Georgia 11. All words should be centered, and capitalize the first letter of important words.

If a paper has two or more authors, place the word “and,” without quotes, between the names. If there are three or more authors, separate the authors' names with commas and use "and" before the last author's name.

Ref-n-Write Academic Writing Tool 10% Promotional Discount

How to reference this article:.

McLeod, S. A. (2020, April 06). APA title page (cover page) format, examples, and templates . Simply psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/apa-title-page.html

MS Word Cover Page Templates

Download, personalize & print, proposal cover pages.

Posted By: admin 23/04/2019

A cover page also referred to as the title page, is the first page of a document that introduces the document to the reader. It has the basic information regarding the content of the document and may become a source of interest created for the reader.

A proposal is a document that is prepared to be presented to a client in order to convince the client about signing the deal. The cover page of a proposal holds great significance; where the proposal serves as a marketing tool for the company, the cover page, if attractive enough, can make a client interested in knowing about the proposal details and the information contained in the proposal report.

When the proposal is being prepared, enough attention should be given to its cover page as well as it is, usually, the first thing that is glanced at by the client and may or may not convince the client about the worth of the proposal. Some of the considerations are:

Although the information that is included on a proposal cover page is dependent on many factors, such as company requirements, client needs, purpose and type of the proposal, etc., the information that is generally included on all the proposal cover pages are:

There are many templates available on this website as well as in the programs, such as Microsoft Word, for designing the proposal cover pages. These templates can easily be customized and modified as per the requirements. At the same time, some companies prefer designing their own proposal cover pages, rather than opting for a template design. Where using the templates can save time and effort, designing from scratch may create a cover page that is distinct and one of its sort.

Irrespective of the option opted for by the company preparing the proposal, the template or design from scratch, if the proposal cover page serves its purpose which is about generating the interest of the client toward the proposal details and the complete report, it means that the cover page has been designed appropriately.

See the list below of many proposal templates designed by our team.

Be the first to comment on "Proposal Cover Pages"

IMAGES

😊 Sample of research proposals. 56+ Proposal Examples. 2019-02-16
😀 Sample research proposal paper. Dissertation Examples. 2019-03-01
9 Free Research Proposal Templates (with Examples)
7+ Best Free Research Proposal Cover Page Template in MS Word & PDF
Thesis Proposal Research Proposal Cover Page
An example of research proposal cover page Source : MSc Dissertation...

VIDEO

Steps in Writing a Research Proposal
Sample of Research Proposal / MESP001 / Hand written
How to Develop a Research Proposal
How to Write Research Proposal
How to Write a Research Proposal
How To Create Upwork Proposals Using ChatGPT AI In Seconds

COMMENTS

How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates - Scribbr
Example research proposal #1: “A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management”. Example research proposal #2: “Making Healthy Connections: Mentoring, Monitoring and Measurement”. Example research proposal #3: “Medical Students as Mediators of Change in Tobacco Use”.
How to Write a Research Proposal | Guide With Examples
Your research proposal also has to cover these things: The research methodology you plan to use The tools and procedures you will use to collect, analyze, and interpret the data you collect An explanation of how your research fits the budget and other constraints that come with conducting it through your institution, department, or academic program
Research Paper Cover Page | Format Examples With Writing Tips
The first thing you need to know is that there are primarily three formats for your title page – APA, Chicago style, and MLA. Your instructor will most likely tell you which format is ideal for the paper. The title page has to contain some precise information about the research in a few words.
Research Proposal Format Example
Research Proposal Format Example Following is a general outline of the material that should be included in your project proposal. I. Title Page II. Introduction and Literature Review (Chapters 2 and 3) A. Identification of specific problem area (e.g., what is it, why it is important). B. Prevalence, scope of problem. C.
APA Title Page (Cover Page) Format, Example, Template ...
In APA Style (7th edition), the cover page, or title page, should include: A running head (professional papers only) and page number The title of the paper The name of the author (s) The institutional affiliation An author note; optional (professional papers only) A student paper should also include course information
SAMPLE PROPOSAL COVER PAGE - UNC Research
SAMPLE PROPOSAL COVER PAGE PROPOSAL to the Research Society of America 1515 Boulevard of the Planet Washington, DC 22222 Submitted by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill AOB 104 Airport Drive, Suite 2200, CB 1350 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1350 Title: The affect of the internet on social behavior in the industrialized world.
Research proposal an example - Edith Cowan University
Research proposal – an example The following is a suggested format for a research proposal. Cover Page. The cover page should show: the title; the student’s name and student number; the name of the University; the name of the degree sought; the name of the principal supervisor; and the date of submission. Abstract
500+ Proposal Cover Page Templates | MS Word Cover Page Templates
The proposal cover page should be formal, professional and should match the image of the company. If any colors, pictures or different fonts are being used, they should be attractive and catchy but should not be a mismatch to the company’s image and the proposal’s purpose.
How To Write a Proposal Cover Letter (With an Example)
Here's an example of a proposal cover letter for a small farm requesting funding from a philanthropic organization: Cheryl Smith Farm Founder Grow It Farms 123 Central Ave. Farmington, VA 12345 growitfarms.com, [email protected], 139-233-2453 January 1, 2021 Mr. Josh Jackson The Farm Foundation 456 Strawberry St. Tampa, Florida 78900